Positive Organizing Project (POP)

Getting Back to Our Roots: Engaging People Living with HIV as More than Just Patients

Positive Organizing Project, supported by the Gilead Foundation, is designed to revitalize a grass-roots organizing movement among people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) that impacts HIV-related stigma, raises education and awareness among policy makers, and indirectly improves outcomes along the continuum of care. The program supports local organizing efforts to address stigma and engagement in care. This is being accomplished by (1) revitalizing the movement of HIV-positive mobilization in local communities, and (2) ensuring synergistic efforts that help us document models that are effective in achieving organizing goals, and can be shared and scaled elsewhere.

“Too many believe they are alone, and that it must be kept secret. People living with HIV have a critical role to play in combating stigma, serving as role models for disclosure and engagement in care, working to decriminalize HIV, and leading advocacy activities by—and for—people living with HIV,” said AIDS United President & CEO Michael Kaplan. “In some ways the Positive Organizing Project is bringing us back to our roots, but the power of bringing people living with HIV together in meaningful ways is just as needed now as it ever was.”

From focusing on the unique needs and experiences of transgender women, providing mentorship and policy training to youth living with HIV, mobilizing African Americans in Indiana, to expanding peer support for women living with HIV – each of the 9 grantee organizations are harnessing the power and resiliency inherent in their communities to make a clear difference in the lives of people living with HIV.

The Power of Positive Voices - Webinar

The Power of Positive Voices, a webinar co-hosted with The US People Living with HIV Caucus, explored the history and value of meaningful involvement of people living with HIV in the national response to the epidemic. Viewers learned about the impact that HIV-positive involvement can have from the front lines of advocacy and peer services to the leadership of community organizations, Legacy Community Health Services' shared lessons learned from their own positive organizing work, and an introduction to a new funding opportunity from AIDS United for those interested in starting or growing their own positive organizing efforts.